“Wonderful article I came across. YOU WANT TO BE THE HERO OF YOUR OWN STORY…”

YOU WANT TO BE THE HERO OF YOUR OWN STORY…

via AWAKE + ALIVE MENTORSHIP — Madison Hedlund

What Going with the flow means to me…

Going wih the flow doesn’t mean doing what everyone thinks I should do, or accept everything at face value, AS IT Is. (That’s Horizontal Thinking, IMHO which simply means taking things lying down, never raising a voice of dissent !)

It means not Opposing EVERYthing.

It means not some imperfections permitted, including in meticulous, scrupulous planning included.

It means not leaving behind your idiosyncracies, intrigues and enigmatic behavior.

It means focusing on your strengths, rather than trying to be great at everything in the world, all knowing, all potent (Omnipotent, omniscient) All powerful and putting people off with your autocracy, dominance and diffidence and superEgo!

It means trusting people, instead of living constantly in your cocoons of fears, of failure, of mistakes, failure attribution, sliminess and having to say sorry, thank you or using correct manners and etiquettes to suit the occasion.

Fascinating beliefs about Smell. via Listverse.

10 Fascinating Beliefs About Smell From The Past And Present

ALANNA AUSTIN MAY 20, 2018

Smell is the most underrated of the five senses (or six, nine, or more, depending on who you talk to). So many amazing experiences in the world would be nothing without smell—eating a delicious bowl of Thai green curry (or anything that’s made with garlic), revisiting a childhood home, or even Christmas.

Smell is also the most mystical of the senses because it’s much less tangible than taste or touch. Because of this, and because we’ve only recently begun to understand the science behind smell, there are many fascinating beliefs and theories in cultures all over the world about smell, some which have been disproved through modern science and some which have stood the test of time. These beliefs can tell us many interesting things about ourselves, our culture, and our noses.

Listverse – Daily Highlights

10Disease Is Spread Through Bad Smells

Photo credit: Paul Fürst

Back before scientists developed the germ theory of disease and before they discovered that fleas were spreading the Black Death on the backs of rats (or gerbils), people believed that sickness was spread through miasma, or foul smells. The world “malaria” actually comes from the Latin, mal and aria, which translates to “bad air.”

Because of this, 17th-century doctors who treated plague patients wore beaked masks stuffed with sweet-smelling ingredients such as dried flowers and herbs. People did all sorts of strange things to try and protect themselves against these dangerous, stinky smells. They built bonfires in the streets and fumigated their houses. They blessed the pollutant-rich air of the cities because they believed coal-burning cleansed the air of disease. And some people put a goat in their house, which seems counterintuitive, but we are talking about people who put leeches on their bodies to get rid of sickness.^[1]

9Humans Have A Weak Sense Of Smell Because We Have Free Will

Photo credit: Wikimedia

First of all, humans don’t have a weak sense of smell. We actually have a very strong sense of smell, possibly as strong as many animals. The idea that humans have a weak sense of smell can be traced back to a scientist named Paul Broca from the mid-19th century. He associated smell with impulsive reactions like those that animals have to smell, namely to eat and breed. He believed that because humans have free will, we can control what smell makes us do and therefore must not have an overpowering sense of smell. In other words, “I don’t smell, therefore I am.”

Freud also weighed in, connecting the strong sense of smell in animals with uninhibited sexuality and weak smell in humans with sexual repression.^[2]

8Perfume Is The Sweat Of The Gods

Photo credit: Rama

The ancient Egyptians were some of the first people to make and export perfumes. They made them out of oil and fat, mixed with aromatic ingredients from plants and herbs, and eventually exported their perfumes all over the Mediterranean. For the Egyptians, perfume had a close association with the divine. Deities were thought to have their own unique scents, and perfume was believed to be the sweat of their god, Ra. They even had a god just for perfume, Nefertem.^[3]

If you think about it, not much has changed. We still associate individual scents with certain celebrities and fork out the big bucks to smell like them. If we could bottle Beyonce’s tears and spray them on ourselves, we would.

7We Shouldn’t Sleep With Someone Who Has A Similar Smell

In many non-Western cultures around the world, smell is the most important of the senses. For some, everything in the universe is defined by smell. The Ongee of the Andaman islands constructed their calendar around the changing odors of seasonal plants throughout the year. Personal identity is also defined by odor, and everyone is believed to have their own distinct smell.

So, how does this attention to smell discourage incest? In many cultures where identity is associated with smell, “odor-mixing” is taboo, and people are discouraged from sleeping with those who have similar smells. For example, among the Amazonian Desana, each tribe is thought to have its own smell, and marriage is only allowed between those with different smells.^[4] This discourages intratribal marriage and in turn means you’re less likely to marry your brother.

This isn’t just a cultural norm, however; there is science to back it up. Studies have shown that women prefer the scents of men whose DNA is different enough that they could produce a healthy child. So next time you meet up with a Tinder date, make sure you give them a big whiff just to make sure they aren’t some long-lost cousin.

6Smell Has The Power To Heal Us

For thousands of years, cultures around the globe have used the concentrated extracts, or essential oils, of various parts of plants for therapeutic, hygienic, and ritualistic purposes. Today, this practice is known as aromatherapy. Although the science behind the success of aromatherapy is controversial, there are many studies that attest to the possibility that inhaling essential oils can have a transformative effect on things like mood, stress, focus, and even immune system health. Researchers believe this is because smell stimulates the parts of your brain that influence physical, emotional, and mental health.

Lavender, one of the most popular essential oils, has been shown to reduce stress levels and boost moods. Some researchers believe this is because lavender stimulates activity in the amygdala in the same way some sedative medications do.^[5] Aromatherapy, once the domain of home-birth hippies and Big Pharma conspiracy theorists, is gaining in mainstream popularity as an alternative to prescription medication.

https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-27/html/container.html

5Your Political Views Stink

No, seriously, they do. A study suggests that we can smell peoples’ political beliefs. Okay, so we can’t just take a quick whiff of the person next to us on the subway and know who they voted for in the presidential primary, but this study, published in the American Journal of Political Science in 2014, found that adults were much more likely to be attracted to someone whose political ideologies aligned with their own, based on smell alone. In the experiment, 125 participants smelled body odor samples from 21 people with extreme political leanings. The results left little room for argument.

In a particularly dramatic instance, one subject claimed that the sample (taken from someone with different views than their own) had gone rancid, while another participant, with political views that aligned with the owner of the BO, smelling the same sample asked to keep it because she thought it smelled so good.^[6] Thankfully, his study sheds light on the real reason Republicans and Democrats can’t seem to agree on anything. They can’t stand the smell of each other.

4Skunk Odor Protects Against Evil Spirits

Honestly, this one seems pretty realistic. If you douse yourself in skunk perfume, it’s unlikely that anything is going to come near you, living or dead. This belief comes from many Native American tribes, for whom the skunk was a sacred animal. To many of these tribes, skunk odor was seen as a form of magical protection against evil spirits, which were believed to be the bringers of diseases.

The Cherokee people would hang a “skunk bag” filled with skunk odor during times of sickness and disease outbreaks.^[7] A hole was punctured in the bag so that the smell could infuse the space. Although, like with miasma theory, there is no capacity for smell to fight the spread of disease, skunk bags may have inadvertently protected the users by discouraging visitors who might be carrying the disease.

3The Most Sacred Scent Comes From A Hairy Pouch On A Tiny Deer

Photo credit: Marie Hale

Aromatics have always played an important spiritual and ritualistic role for many different religions. However, one scent rises above the rest for early Islamic culture: musk. Today, the terms “musk” or “musky” make us think of sexy lumberjacks or even Elon Musk. In fact, the word “musk” is a noun and refers to an odor commonly used in perfumery and originally harvested from a small glandular sack taken from a male musk deer. This glandular sack secretes a liquid used by the deer to attract a mate.^[8]

Because most species of musk deer are now endangered, the odor of musk is usually created synthetically. But back in the day of the Byzantine Empire, musk was the epitome of scent. Mentioned by Muhammad himself, musk features in many Arab proverbs and is used liberally in ancient Arabic literature as a symbol of excellence and great value that, like the scent, permeates its surroundings.

2Scent Can Be Used To Diagnose Disease

This sounds a lot like the “disease is spread by bad smell” theory and probably played some role in the development of that belief. However, unlike the miasma theory, there is actually some truth to this. Hippocrates, the famous ancient Greek physician, is recognized as the first to use smell to diagnose illness as far back as the fifth century BC.

Today, many studies have found success in the use of animal, electronic, and human noses to detect disease. How does this work, exactly? Detection relies on specialized sensory cells in the nose to detect volatile chemical compounds in a person’s body. Basically, certain smells can alert us to certain chemical imbalances and combinations that are markers of disease. This has been shown to work for colorectal cancer, lung cancer, lactose intolerance, fructose intolerance, and type 1 diabetes.^[9] Just another reason we shouldn’t underestimate the power of smell.

1Smell Can Predict Your Death

There is a popular belief that people smell lemons, or citrus, right before they die. The origins of this story are unclear, and the science is even murkier. However, there is a way in which scientists believe sense of smell can help predict your death.

A 2014 study from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that elderly people who could no longer smell common scents such as smoke, lemon, black pepper, chocolate, and cinnamon were 36 percent more likely to die in the next few years. Dr. Wilson, who conducted the study, believes the correlation is linked to a relationship between loss of smell and development of common neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia.^[10] So don’t worry too much about any mysterious citrus smells you might encounter; it’s when you can’t smell the lemon in front of you that it’s time to panic.

via 10 Fascinating Beliefs About Smell From The Past And Present – Listverse

ART: SOTHEBY Newsletter. Modigliani’s Greatest Nude Is Also the Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold at Sotheby’s

At $157.2 Million, Modigliani’s Greatest Nude Is Also the Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold at Sotheby’s

https://ift.tt/2rOuPvJ
Nu couché is not only the largest work from Amedeo Modigliani‘s career and his greatest nude, it is now the most valuable work ever sold at Sothebys—selling for $157 million in the 14 May Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale. Nu couché was acquired by its previous owner at auction in 2003 for $26.9 million.

In 2010, the Modigliani oil painting Nu Assis Sur Un Divan (La Belle Romaine) also of 1917 sold at Sotheby’s New York for $69 million. In 2014 his 1911–12 sculpture Tête achieved $70.7 million at Sotheby’s New York, which was the second highest price for the artist at auction prior to this evening’s sale.

Painted a century ago, Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) is the greatest work from the iconic series in which Amedeo Modigliani reinvented the nude for the Modern era. Upon their debut exhibition in 1917, these striking and sensual images quite literally stopped traffic and prompted the police to close the show. Today, the series is recognized as one of the seminal achievements in Modern painting. The shock and awe that Modigliani’s nudes continue to elicit was evident during Tate Modern’s recent celebrated retrospective of the artist’s work that included Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) as its cover star.

In addition to being the finest example from the series, Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) is distinguished further as the largest painting of Modigliani’s entire oeuvre – measuring nearly 58 inches (147 centimeters) across – and the only one of his horizontal nudes to contain the entire figure within the canvas. The majority of the 22 reclining nudes from the series are found in museums, with particular depth in the United States: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York each hold three examples. Outside of the United States, institutions with reclining nudes include the Long Museum in Shanghai and The Courtauld Gallery in London.

Discover more about Amedeo Modigliani.
https://ift.tt/2IfC9eN May 15, 2018 at 06:42AM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/impressions/2018/05/modigliani-greatest-nude-most-expensive-painting-ever-sold.html?&cmp=ifttt

Pavel Tchelitchew: 7 Things You Need to Know

https://ift.tt/2jZN11U
^{PAVEL TCHELITCHEW, THE ROSE NECKLACE, 1931. ESTIMATE £60,000–80,000.}

Of all the 20th-century Surrealists, few were as idiosyncratic and willful as Pavel Tchelitchew, the Russian-born painter, stage designer and costume designer. The Chagall of noir, he was celebrated for his eerie geometric studies of heads and sexualized anamorphic landscapes.

A group of 17 works by Tchelitchew from the collection of Seymour Stein, co-founder of the pioneering label Sire Records which signed Madonna, features in our Russian Pictures sale in London on 5 June, works that provide links to figures close to the artist: his longtime partner, the poet Charles Henri Ford; Tchelitchew’s biographer Parker Tyler; and friend and fellow Surrealist, Edward James. Below are seven facts to help illuminate this most mercurial of artists.

1. He had a nomadic sensibility

Born in Kaluga Province – into an aristocratic family of landowners – Tchelitchew left Russia following the 1917 revolution, moving first to Berlin then Paris, later taking American citizenship while living in New York. He also spent periods in Kiev, Sofia, Istanbul and London. He died, however, in Rome and his ashes were interred in Paris. His oeuvre was equally restless, shifting between abstraction, eroticism, Futurism, Neo-Romanticism and outrageous Surrealist fantasies.

^{CHARLES HENRI FORD, RUTH FORD, PARKER TYLER AND PAVEL TCHELITCHEW AT WEST DEAN, 1934

© THE CECIL BEATON STUDIO ARCHIVE AT SOTHEBY’S}

2. Cecil Beaton fell “under his spell”

Tchelitchew and Beaton met in 1931 and for several decades enjoyed/endured an on-again, off-again, friendship. “Tchelitchew at first intimidated me (he could be devastating in his disapproval) but soon cast an almost hypnotic influence over me,” recalled Beaton. As a pot calls a kettle black, Beaton said that Pavel was “apt to be touchy and fractious”.

3. He made muses out of literate ladies

His formative period in Paris during the 1920s was spent in the salons of the poet Dame Edith Sitwell and the American playwright and art collector Gertrude Stein – he produced unflattering portraits of both. And towards the end of his life he befriended Isak Dinesen, aka Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa.

^{PAVEL TCHELITCHEW, EXCELSIOR, 1934. ESTIMATE £250,000–350,000.}

4. His greatest masterpiece almost perished

His most famous painting, Hide and Seek (1942), is a nightmarish fantasy of figures entwined in branches inspired by a tree he saw while walking in Edward James’ Sussex estate. It has had an unlucky history: a hole was accidentally punched in the canvas during an exhibition tour and in 1958 a fire at New York’s Museum of Modern Art left its surface baked and covered in soot. The work was later restored.

5. He was a frustrated dancer

His career as a ballet designer, from 1919 to the mid-1940s, found him working for theatres as far afield as Istanbul and Buenos Aires and with talents such as the Ballet Russes, Orson Welles, Sergei Diaghilev and George Balanchine. “Re-create a forgotten world,” he declared, “a world you have never seen, so that the audience will gasp with surprise.” He liked to imitate the illustrious ballerinas featured on the stage, performances that one friend described as looking like a bluebottle in flight.

^{PAVEL TCHELITCHEW, HARLEQUIN, 1930. ESTIMATE £1,800–2,500}

6. He thought people misbehaved in museums

Tchelitchew was convinced that most visitors to museums will fondle the private parts of statues if they are left alone in the galleries. As a result, he claimed, curators have to regularly wash the fiddled bits.

7. His final commission was a wine label

Tchelitchew’s swansong was a colour drawing for the label of the 1956 Mouton Rothschild La Tache de Vin. His design featured a golden ram – a reference to the Rothschild’s coat-of-arms – caught in a geometric spider’s web splashed with crimson wine. The artist died from a heart attack the following year; Baron Philippe de Rothschild was one of the many august and eminent mourners at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
https://ift.tt/2wHXfgB May 15, 2018 at 06:42PM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/notes-from-underground/2018/05/pavel-tchelitchew-7-things-to-know.html?&cmp=ifttt

The Art of the Season: London’s Must-See Shows

https://ift.tt/2KuOybj

^{PABLO PICASSO, LE PEINTRE ET SON MODÈLE, 1964. FROM IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE, 19 JUNE, LONDON. © SUCCESSION PICASSO/DACS, LONDON 2018.}

The cultural calendar in London comes alive in the summer months, with fascinating exhibitions opening at galleries, museums and parks across the capital. Permanent fixtures such as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Serpentine Pavilion are this year joined in the line-up by appearances by some of fashion and music’s most iconic figures and muses; from Michael Jackson and Azzedine Alaïa to Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe. With so much to see, we’ve put together a handy guide to the very best shows and experiences on offer, so you needn’t miss a thing…

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the V&A

The V&A is well-known as the go-to destination for all things fashion, but this exhibition goes a little deeper than merely a look at Frida Kahlo’s clothes. Featuring items from the artist’s personal archive, many that have never been seen since her death in 1954, Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Upis an intimate journey through the life of the Mexican icon. Kahlo herself was often the subject of her own artwork, and her image, art and troubled personal life were entirely intertwined in the careful construction of her outward appearance. The importance of dress as part costume, and part protection are just some of the themes explored in this powerful exhibition, including clothing, prosthetics and cosmetics.

The V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL.

^{FRIDA KAHLO WITH OLMEC FIGURINE, 1939. © NICKOLAS MURRAY PHOTO ARCHIVES.}

Monet & Architecture at The National Gallery

Whilst more widely known for his expressive paintings of the natural world, flowers and trees were not the only subject matter that fascinated Monet, who remains one of the most revered figures in the history of art. This comprehensive exhibition explores his interest in man-made structures and the famous landmark buildings in London, Paris, Venice and beyond.

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN.

Michael Jackson: On the Wall at National Portrait Gallery

Nearly a decade after the death of Michael Jackson, and coinciding with what would have been Jackson’s 60th birthday, this ambitious display surveys the life and distinctive style of the superstar – from his Motown days in the Jackson 5, though to his later military-inspired dress, on and off stage. Works by more than 40 artists including Andy Warhol, Grayson Perry, Isa Genzken and David LaChapelle celebrate Jackson as a cultural icon and master of reinvention.

National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE.

^{DAVID LACHAPELLE, AN ILLUMINATING PATH, 1998. © DAVID LACHAPELLE. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.}

The Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion

Since the inaugural Serpentine Pavilion commission in 2000, this oasis in the park has become a must-see destination on the London art trail. Designed by a different architect every year, this year’s commission is conceived by Mexico City-based Frida Escobedo. The pavilion will be a secluded courtyard with a central pool of water, offering a tranquil place for visitors to sit and reflect and to escape the crowded streets of London. Escobedo is the youngest architect to have undertaken the project, and the first solo woman to design the pavilion since the late Zaha Hadid in 2000.

Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London, W2 3XA.

^{SERPENTINE PAVILION 2018 DESIGNED BY FRIDA ESCOBEDO, TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA, DESIGN RENDERING, INTERIOR VIEW © FRIDA ESCOBEDO, TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA, RENDERINGS BY ATMÓSFERA.}

Sotheby’s Modern and Post-War British Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, Contemporary Art and Old Master Paintingexhibitions and sales

Beginning on 8 June, Sotheby’s opens it doors for the summer sale season in the New Bond Street Galleries, with five weeks of exhibitions, exclusive events, talks and sales – presenting an array of artworks by the world’s leading artists from Picasso and Jean Arp to Damien Hirst and Barbara Hepworth.

Sotheby’s, 34–35 New Bond St, London W1A 2AA.

^{JEAN ARP, DÉMÉTER, FROM IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE, 19 JUNE, LONDON.}

Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier at the Design Museum

As trends come and go in the fashion world, there are several figures whose designs truly stand the test of time. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Alaïa’s handmade creations have graced the pages of magazines and red carpets the world over, and devoted fans include Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga and Nicole Kidman. By displaying the exquisite dresses against specially designed architectural screens, the couture creations take on a sculptural quality. With the addition of archival photography, the exhibition goes inside the mind of the man and the brand – the legacy of which plays a starring role in the history of fashion. Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier was co-curated by the designer himself, before his death in November 2017.

Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6AG.

^{LINDA EVANGELISTA AND AZZEDINE ALAÏA PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1990 BY SANTE D’ORAZIO.}

250 Years of the Royal Academy of Arts

After a major three-year renovation, the Royal Academy of Arts is reopening, and reinforcing it’s dedication to new art and ideas, as it has done since it first opened in 1768. With a host of events, exhibitions and artist projects, the new RA will be unveiled on 19th May. The aptly named The Great Spectacle, exploring the history of the institution’s exhibitions, and the Festival of Ideas will kick off the new programme, alongside the 250th instalment of the Summer Exhibition – showcasing works by one thousand artists, and this year curated by Turner Prize-winning academician Grayson Perry.

Read about the new RA on Sotheby’s Museum Network.

The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD.

^{ARTIST BOB AND ROBERTA SMITH AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.}

Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art at Tate Modern

Tate Modern does blockbuster exhibitions well, and manages to toe the lie between crowd-pleaser and educational seamlessly; moving the art-historical conversation forward whilst allowing viewers access to works by the most significant artists of our times. From the early experimental photography of Man Ray and Alfred Stieglitz through to contemporary practitioners such as Thomas Ruff and Antony Cairns, Shape of Lightpresents an under-explored history of the relationship between photography and abstract art. Whilst visiting, you can also pop in to Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy on the 3rd floor of the Boiler House, which devotes ten rooms to Picasso’s ‘Year of Wonders’.

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG.

^{ANTONY CAIRNS, LDN5_051, 2017. © ANTONY CAIRNS; MAYA ROCHAT, A ROCK IS A RIVER (META LOVE), 2017. © MAYA ROCHAT. COURTESY LILY ROBERT. FROM SHAPE OF LIGHT: 100 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND ABSTRACT ART AT TATE MODERN.}

Rodin and the art of ancient Greece at the British Museum

This exhibition brings together works by perhaps the most famous sculptor in history, and exquisite examples of the Greek artefacts that inspired his practice. On visits to the British Museum in the 1800s, Auguste Rodin was deeply inspired by objects in the museum’s collection, and these works are now displayed side-by-side in this major exhibition, including his most revered works –The Thinker and The Kiss.

The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG.

^{RODIN AND HIS ANTIQUITIES. MUSÉE RODIN. PHOTO: JEAN DE CALAN.}

Further afield…

America’s Cool Modernism: O’Keeffe to Hopper at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

The work of some of America’s most important artists are brought together in this bold exhibition, with many works being shown in Britain for the first time. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, many artists of the period were recording the changing world around them, whilst simultaneously experimenting with abstraction. The large-scale industrialisation of the country provided artists such as Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and George Ault with plentiful subject matter, allowing them to produce images of an America on the on the cusp of wealth, prosperity and expansion.

Ashmolean Museum, 35 Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2PH.

Liverpool Biennial 2018: Beautiful world, where are you?

Held in galleries, museums and public spaces all over Liverpool including the Bluecoat, Tate Liverpool and FACT, the art world will once again descend on the city for a four month festival of international contemporary art. Commissions and residencies by the most exciting talents working in visual arts and culture are accompanied by programme of talks, films and interactive installations – with a carefully curated online element, allowing people from around the world the opportunity to take part in the Biennial from any location.

Various locations, Liverpool.

^{HAEGUE YANG, INTERMEDIATE – NARRATING SEA SQUIRT ALIENAGE, 2016, SHOWING AT TATE LIVERPOOL © HAEGUE YANG.}

Patrick Heron at Tate St Ives

As one of the founding figures of the St Ives School, Patrick Heron’s paintings are beautifully expressive studies of colour and form. Inspired by the light and landscape in his adopted Cornwall, Heron’s abstract canvasses will be exhibited in the town that nurtured the creative experimentation of many of British Modernism’s most significant figures.

Tate St Ives, Porthmeor Beach, St Ives TR26 1TG.

https://ift.tt/2k1RoJP May 16, 2018 at 04:16PM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2018/05/art-of-the-season-londons-must-see-shows.html?&cmp=ifttt

Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art Highlights

https://ift.tt/2rRNLJT
Sotheby’s presents a global tour of highlights from the upcoming Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary Art sales in London this June. The exhibition will be on view in Hong Kong and Zurich.

Exhibition Calendar

Hong Kong: 25–31 May

Zurich: 9–10 June

Exhibition Highlights

Auction Calendar

Enquiries

Impressionist & Modern Art
+44 (0)20 7293 6342
james.mackie@sothebys.com

Contemporary Art
+44 (0)20 7293 5744
alex.branczik@sothebys.com
https://ift.tt/2IqDLCx May 18, 2018 at 10:16PM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2018/05/impressionist-modern-contemporary-highlights-exhibition.html?&cmp=ifttt

QOTD

Hosea Ballou

“Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2hUy4wx May 14, 2018 at 10:43AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/hosea_ballou

Edmund Hillary

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2KnHA7P May 15, 2018 at 10:38AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/edmund_hillary

Josh Billings

“Words are often seen hunting for an idea, but ideas are never seen hunting for words.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2i9voPv May 16, 2018 at 10:33AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/josh_billings

Lee Iacocca

“Trouble shared is trouble halved.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2Ira3ZZ May 17, 2018 at 10:39AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/lee_iacocca

Maya Angelou

“All great achievements require time.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2krMaqv May 18, 2018 at 10:39AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/maya_angelou

Pope Paul VI

“Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2yHiOLy May 19, 2018 at 10:34AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/pope_paul_vi

Confucius

“I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.”

via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2Izof39 May 20, 2018 at 10:33AM
via RSS Feed https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/confucius

Sotheby’s newsletter

Worth subscribing.

11 Must-See Exhibitions at Photo London 2018

https://ift.tt/2L4leJU
^{JUNO CALYPSO, SUBTERRANEAN KITCHEN, 2017. COURTESY JUNO CALYPSO AND TJ BOULTING.

FROM WHAT TO DO WITH A MILLION YEARS – JUNO CALYPSO.}

Now in its fourth year, Photo London has firmly established itself as a world-class photography fair, attracting both exhibitors and visitors from around the globe. Ahead of this year’s event, which runs from 17-20 May and coincides with Sotheby’s Photographs auction on 17 May, we take a look at 11 of the outstanding exhibitions happening in and around the fair that are worth a visit.

What To Do With A Million Years – Juno Calypso
TJ Boulting Gallery, 59 Riding House Street, London W1W 7EG

Juno Calypso is best known for her iconic photographic series of self-portraits in ‘The Honeymoon Suite’ and her new exhibition, ‘What To Do With A Million Years’ is her first solo show at London’s TJ Boulting Gallery. The new photographs, which are on display from 16 May–23 June, feature the surreal and unique location of an underground house in Nevada.

Peckham 24
Seen Fifteen Gallery, 133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN

Organised by the Seen Fifteen gallery (18–20 May), Peckham 24 returns for a third edition and showcases cutting-edge contemporary photography from artists both based in London and internationally including Campbell Addy, Lalu Delbracio and Hannah Starkey.

Offprint
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

From 18–20 May, the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall will host 140 independent and experimental publishers in contemporary art, photography and graphic design. Throughout the weekend there will be a program of workshops and performances.

^{PHILIPPE CHANCEL, UNTITLED, 1982, FROM THE SERIES REBEL’S PARIS 1982. COURTESY OF MELANIE RIO FLUENCY, FRANCE. FROM ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE.}

Another Kind of Life
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

This exhibition at the Barbican, until 27 May, looks at countercultures, subcultures and minorities of all kinds through the work of 20 photographers from the 1950s to the present day. The photographs reflect a more diverse, complex view of the work and follow the lives of individuals from America to India, Chile to Nigeria.

Foam Talent
Beaconsfield Gallery, 22 Newport Street, London SE11 6AY

Beaconsfield Gallery in Vauxhall and Amsterdam’s Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam bring together a group of 20 innovative photography talents under the age of 35 for an exhibition which runs from 16 May until 10 June. Almost 2,000 people responded to the talent call and the final selection of 20 artists was made on the basis of their innovative and often experimental approaches to the medium.

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize 2018
The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW

Mathieu Asselin, Rafal Milach, Batia Suter and Luke Willis Thompson are the four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2018 at The Photographers’ Gallery until 3 June. The shortlist showcases diverse and innovative photographic practices, which recognise and celebrate the many developments within the medium, while also challenging its boundaries and was curated by TPG’s Anna Dannemann.

^{ANTONY CAIRNS, ‘LDN023’, 2011-2012. ESTIMATE £3,000–5,000. FROM PHOTOGRAPHS (LONDON, 17 MAY).}

Shape of Light – 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Shape of Light, at Tate Modern from 2 May until 14 October, is the first major exhibition to explore the relationship between photography and abstract art and includes images from the 1910s until the present day. The exhibition brings together key photographs from pioneers including Man Ray and Alfred Stieglitz with exciting new work by Daisuke Yokota, Antony Cairns (who features in the London Photographs sale on 17 May) and Maya Rochat, that were produced especially for the show.

Daido Moriyama – SCENE~
Hamiltons Gallery, 13 Carlos Place, London W1K 2EU

Widely recognised as one of the few living modern masters of photography from Japan, Daido Moriyama is the most celebrated photographer to emerge from the Japanese Provoke movement of the 1960s. SCENE, which is on view from 15 May until 17 August, features photographs selected by Hamiltons’ gallery owner Tim Jefferies and includes images taken in the 60s and 70s, as well as some more recent works.

^{LORENZO VITTURI, PAINTED AGBE, ITALIAN LEATHER, CORAL BEADS AND HORN, 2017 © LORENZO VITTURI, COURTESY OF FLOWERS GALLERY. FROM MONEY MUST BE MADE – LORENZO VITTURI.}

Money Must Be Made – Lorenzo Vitturi
Flowers Gallery, 82 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DP

London-based Italian artist Lorenzo Vitturi’s new solo exhibition is at the Flowers Gallery from 11 May until 30 June. The works in the new series are based at the Balogun Market in Lagos, Nigeria, the second biggest market of its kind in West Africa.

Noémie Goudal – Telluris
Edel Assanti Gallery, 74A Newman Street, London W1T 3DB

Telluris, which is at the Edel Assanti gallery from 11 May until 23 June, sees the photographer switch her attention from the sky to the earth. A site-specific architectural installation houses works from two new photographic series while the lower ground floor gallery houses a sculptural work that develops Goudal’s investigations into the stereoscope as an early means of presenting photography.

Senta Simond – Rayon Vert
Webber Gallery, 18 Newman Street, London W1T 1PE

Rayon Vert, which is at the Webber Gallery from 10 May until 15 June, takes its title from the optical phenomenon and the 1986 Eric Rohmer ﬁlm, both of which are reﬂected in Senta Simond’s approach to portraiture. The images feature acquaintances of the photographer and are a response to existing, and often clichéd, representations of femininity.
https://ift.tt/2GgZGGq May 15, 2018 at 08:07PM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2018/05/11-must-see-exhibitions-photo-london.html?&cmp=ifttt

5 Insights from an Early Work by Yayoi Kusama

https://ift.tt/2ImjoSG
Created in the years directly following the artist’s move to New York, Untitled is one of a mere handful of the artist’s ‘egg carton’ reliefs from the early 1960s, and articulates the raw drive and acute conceptual tension that Kusama experienced during that period. Embodying the elegiac beauty and disorienting spatial complexity that would define Kusama’s work for years to come, Untitled offers an intimate glimpse of the conceptual and creative origins of one of the most iconic figures of contemporary art.

OBSESSION & REPETITION

Simultaneously enchanting and uncanny in their hallucinogenic repetition of multi-dimensional patterns, the egg-carton reliefs of the early 1960s showcase Kusama’s unique ability to translate private compulsions into mesmerizing abstract visions. Diagnosed with an obsessional neurosis, Kusama¹s serial use of repeated patterns is an expression of the psychotropic visions of infinitely proliferating forms that haunted her from a young age; in replicating the boundless fields of her visions within the confines of her canvas, Kusama finds relief from her ungovernable compulsion. Remarking upon the therapeutic quality of her practice, Kusama notes, “You attempt to flee from psychic obsession by choosing to paint the very vision of fear, from which one would ordinarily avert one¹s eyes. I paint them in quantity; in doing so, I try to escape.”

^{YAYOI KUSAMA, UNTITLED, 1962. ESTIMATE $7,000,000–10,000,000.}

EARLY YEARS IN NEW YORK

When the artist first arrived in New York in June of 1958, knowing no one and speaking little English, she discovered that, “New York was in every way a fierce and violent place.” Despite her precarious existence, Kusama was deeply inspired by the urban energy of the city, and within her first months in New York, her painting underwent a dramatic transformation. She soon found the means of channeling her psychomatic obsessions into the remarkable Infinity Nets, and later the egg carton reliefs. While her striking spatial abstractions earned her gallery shows and attention, Kusama¹s early critical success did not translate to financial success.

^{YAYOI KUSAMA, NEW YORK, 1964. (PHOTO BY EVELYN HOFER/GETTY IMAGES).}

FOUND MATERIALS

In 1962, driven by an overwhelming pressure to articulate her compulsive repetitions, but forced to shift her focus from expensive oil paint to new media, Kusama began to experiment with free-of-cost materials; in their repetitive form and ready availability, commercial egg cartons were an attractive medium. Unable even to purchase a new canvas upon which to fix the egg-cartons, the verso of the present work reveals the spectral pattern of an earlier painting by Kusama. Untitled is a striking testament to Kusama¹s fierce dedication to her practice during the early years of her career.

^{YAYOI KUSAMA, UNTITLED (DETAIL), 1962. ESTIMATE $7,000,000–10,000,000.}

IN A LEAGUE OF HER OWN

Although central to the New York art discourse of the 1960s, Kusama did not affiliate herself with any single artistic movement, moving instead between the various groups of her contemporaries without any discernible allegiance or affiliation. While she cultivated close friendships with artists such as Donald Judd and Frank Stella, both of whom sought her artistic guidance and purchased her early work, she did not consider herself a minimalist. Like fellow trailblazers Agnes Martin and Louise Bourgeois, Kusama emphatically dismissed any attempts to categorize her work within a single movement, pursuing instead a highly personalized and internally motivated artistic practice.

IT¹S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS

‘Widely considered to be Japan’s greatest living artist, Kusama has continued to explore the boundlessness of spatial abstraction through a seemingly endless series of paintings, sculptures, environments, happenings and films. Despite this variety of media and form, Kusama’s practice is centered upon the same, single impulse that solidified in her work of the 1960s: to express the complex interior of her own psyche. Uniting the graphic and physical force of the artist’s two most celebrated forms, Untitled is a powerful expression of Kusama’s commitment to her unique process and creative output. Offering the viewer an intimate glimpse into the early, brilliant, complex mind of Yayoi Kusama, Untitled evokes the famous words of Donald Judd come to mind: to view a painting by Kusama is to view ³a result of Kusama’s work, not a work itself.”

^{YAYOI KUSAMA IN HONG KONG, 2012. PHOTO BY JOSE-FUSTE RAGA/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES.}

https://ift.tt/2k2lMnr May 15, 2018 at 08:07PM
via Sotheby’s https://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/contemporary/2018/05/5-insights-early-work-yayoi-kusama.html?&cmp=ifttt

The Art of the Season: London’s Must-See Shows

https://ift.tt/2KuOybj

^{PABLO PICASSO, LE PEINTRE ET SON MODÈLE, 1964. FROM IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE, 19 JUNE, LONDON. © SUCCESSION PICASSO/DACS, LONDON 2018.}

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the V&A

The V&A is well-known as the go-to destination for all things fashion, but this exhibition goes a little deeper than merely a look at Frida Kahlo’s clothes. Featuring items from the artist’s personal archive, many that have never been seen since her death in 1954, Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up is an intimate journey through the life of the Mexican icon. Kahlo herself was often the subject of her own artwork, and her image, art and troubled personal life were entirely intertwined in the careful construction of her outward appearance. The importance of dress as part costume, and part protection are just some of the themes explored in this powerful exhibition, including clothing, prosthetics and cosmetics.

The V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL.

Monet & Architecture at The National Gallery

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN.

Michael Jackson: On the Wall at National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE.

The Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion

Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London, W2 3XA.

^{SERPENTINE PAVILION 2018 DESIGNED BY FRIDA ESCOBEDO, TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA, DESIGN RENDERING, INTERIOR VIEW © FRIDA ESCOBEDO, TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA, RENDERINGS BY ATMÓSFERA.}

Sotheby’s Modern and Post-War British Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, Contemporary Art and Old Master Painting exhibitions and sales

Sotheby’s, 34–35 New Bond St, London W1A 2AA.

^{JEAN ARP, DÉMÉTER, FROM IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING SALE, 19 JUNE, LONDON.}